Opticenter Spring 2014

THE VOICE OF VISION WES T Spring / 2014

www.vweye.com

IN THIS ISSUE: from the president’s desk:

T H E V O I C E O F V I S I O N W E S TThe American Optometric Association continues to ‘Lead the Way’ 1-Hour Quick Bites Shoemaker’s Shoes with Dr. Dubick Different Approaches to Online Marketing Yield Different Results

By Michael Porat Social Media – How to create your practice’s Facebook page

By Rachael Van Cleave

PRINTED IN USA

|© 2014 OptiCenter - The Voice of Vision West are registered trademarks of Vision West, Inc. All rights reserved

PLUS INDUSTRY NEWS!

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vision west annual:

Salary survey!

Staff salaries and benefits can be a huge part of running a practice.

Do you want to know how you measure up?

Take our survey between now and April 30th and we will provide you with a detailed analysis of industry staff salaries, bonus plans, benefits and more. Results will be made available to participants after May 15, 2014.

Simply log in to your Vision West account and click on the “Salary Survey � button.

Questions? Please contact our Customer Service Department at 800-640-9485 or email us at: customer_service@vweye.com

Introducing:

Online Education Portal

learn online $5.00 per unit for Vision West members–

a savings of $10.00 per unit!

Courses include:

ABO, NCLE, CPC/AOA, COPE, State Board approved credits.

On-Demand Certificate Reprints!

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Take Notes!

This handy virtual notepad lets you take notes while you navigate through a course.

Can’t Finish a Test?

Leave a test for any reason, we’ll remember your answers for you.

register now!

Simply login to your Vision West account at www.vweye.com and go to the Resources tab. Click on the ‘Vision West Online CE/ABO’ link to get access to the portal and the coupon code.

Take a course from your home, office or on the go.

Vision West is proud to partner with Quantum Optical, the leader of online education for Eye Care Professionals and their staff. The new Vision West Education Portal provides our members with some of the best online, on-demand education available.

Courses include ABO, NCLE, CPC/AOA, COPE, State Board approved credits. Take a course from your home, office or on the go.

The Vision West Education Portal is the perfect resource for all your staff training and continuing education requirements. For certified or licensed ECPs, we offer a wide variety of approved online CE course topics. To sharpen your professional skills, or prepare for the ABO or NCLE exams, we have a number of informative non-credit training modules.

Upon successful completion of the online test, your CE Certificate can be printed out or emailed to you and your ABO/NCLE credits will be reported automatically. Many courses available and more coming soon!

Vision west news

Thank you for 15 years of sterling service!

Jolinda Lampo, Accounts Receivable and Customer Service Manager.

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Jolinda is the A/R and Customer Service Manager at Vision West.

She has been with Vision West for 15 years --this month. Her dedication and commitment to Vision West and our members is so appreciated. Thank you Jolinda for 15 years of tremendous service.

We hope to celebrate many more years with you

7:53 AM

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Different approaches to online marketing yield different results

Input Appears to Equal Output “Big data” has arrived in optometric online marketing and it is beginning to provide insights into how best to attract new patients to your practice using Internet-based efforts. Big data is the term used for large data sets that are too large and complex to process using traditional data processing applications. In optometric marketing it means identifying the difficult relationships between practice location, numbers of doctors in a practice, the population served by that practice and the various online techniques (such as social media marketing, search engine optimization and offline event marketing) and understanding how each influences the other to obtain the best results.

Recently, EyeCarePro released a “big data” product that is optometry’s only comparative practice report system. The system has been in the

Population

rank

Doctors

70.45% 66.67% ?

score

Locations

design stages for almost a year. We call it PowerData because in today’s economy, the practice with the best information wins. Because of the large number of websites served by EyeCarePro to optometrists, and the large number of practices who receive other marketing services from us, we now have the capability to tell our practices not just how well they are doing compared with last month’s results, but how well they are doing compared with other practices as well.

Understanding your marketing results, and then improving your results, comes only by comparison. If you are running a race, one way you know that you are doing well because your time is faster today than the last time you ran.

But that is only part of the story. You really know how you are doing in a race because you are racing against others and you can see if you are in first place, fifth place or last place.

B

B

Both of these benchmarks – compared to myself over time and compared to others – yield the truest picture of your results.

While PowerData project is in its early stages, it has already identified significant trends that are guiding future marketing initiatives. First, there are distinct patterns of demographics some of which are not news, but do confirm anticipated patterns. For example, online marketing is performed most often by practices who have been in business over 15 years. Larger practices (2 or more doctors) tend to spend more money and create more activity online than smaller practices.

This is true for multi-location practices as well – more locations, more online marketing.

Comparatively, we provide our practices with a score out of 100 that

Years Practicing

State

63.74% 83.33%

Update B-

A-

Figure 1: Practices receive a comprehensive evaluation of how they compare to other practices on a variety of parameters as illustrated above. This is just one small part of the overall PowerData report. When data is missing on a practice, a question mark appears and allows the practice to provide the missing data online (in this case the population figure was missing).

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is equal to the percentage of practices they are performing better against.

For example, a practice scoring a 67% is performing better on that measure than 2/3rds of their peers.

As we are building out the data model, we are choosing a new “result� to focus on each month. Soon the entire database will be available for look up by our participating practices. This month our focus has been on site traffic or the number of visitors coming to your website. What if we hold the number of practice locations constant to one (practices with more than one location are excluded from the data)?

What site traffic results are achieved across practices that all have a single practice location? The data shows that practices that have a website only fair 20 points lower than their comparative peers on site traffic (47.6% for website only clients v. 65.6% for comprehensive online marketing clients). When we hold population constant we see the same differences. By choosing practices serving a small population area (50,000), we see those that are doing more online (comprehensive marketing) perform almost twice as well online than their peers who have a website only (64% comprehensive v.

38.4% website only).

Why is this important? The greater the traffic to your website, the higher the likelihood of attracting new patients to your practice. It is clear from the data that it is no longer enough to have a website and hope for the best.

Online marketing has become fiercely competitive and pays handsome dividends.

Michael Porat is Chief Operating Officer of EyeCarePro and a passionate user of data to drive decision making.

EyeCarePro is the only online marketing company focused solely on optometry.

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1Q-HOUR uickBites THE BUSINESS OF PRACTICE

Next in a series of easy, quick management tips that you can implement in your practice today in less than an hour,

by Fred H. Dubick, OD, MBA, FAAO.

1Q-HOUR uickBites

One Hour Quick Bites: Shoemaker’s Shoes

Fred H. Dubick, OD, MBA, FAAO

The old adage is the last person in town to get a new pair of shoes is the shoemaker’s family.

This is a reminder to take a look around the office at the eyewear that your team is wearing.

Are they current styles? Are they high-end pieces? Every member of the staff is a walking model for your boutique and as such should be sporting a current pair of spectacles that are fit perfectly and ready to be removed and handed to a patient if they ask to see them.

Of course it goes without saying that those team members should be wearing a clean, well tailored uniform or fashionable clothing if they work in the boutique.

A professional frame representative should be able to find the perfect frame for everyone in the office and should be happy to provide a complementary frame at least once a year for your front line staff. Match that up with a voucher from your laboratory for their latest technology lens products and your team will have the latest products to talk about with the patients. This is a good time to remind you that vendor loyalty has its rewards.

Your office manual should spell out exactly what the vision care benefits are to your employees and their immediate family including annual eye exams, frame and lens benefits, and contact lens allowances. It should discuss clearly what are the limits, discounts and policies for “free” products.

All complimentary products and vouchers belong to the practice owner. You should be very clear about how vendors “spiff” your employees to entice them to sell specific products and whether you want to allow that practice. Free products add up quickly and help to reduce your Cost of Goods and should not be taken for granted. Every item coming into the office must be put into your inventory software and accounted for even if it is ultimately provided at no charge to a staff member or patient.

VIEW & PAY Your Statement Online visit: www.vweye.com

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Guest Article on SocialMatters Media Membership

How to create your practice’s Facebook page I’ve told you about how Facebook equates to what I call “exponential word of mouth,” but in order to take advantage of that, you will need to create a page for your practice. Now, we will begin our journey through Facebook.

Rachael Van Cleave, Communications & Social Media Manager, COA

Your Driver’s License

First, you or whomever will regularly operate your Facebook page must have a Facebook account. That account, which gives you a “timeline” as well as access to friends’ information, is your driver’s license to use Facebook. That license allows you to interact with friends, post information on your own or others’ timelines, and it allows you to create and manage a page for your business. There are instructions on the Facebook website on how to create a Facebook account. However, please feel free to contact COA if you would like help creating an account.

Creating a page To create a Facebook page you must first visit another business’ or organization’s page — like the California Optometric Association’s, www.facebook.com/California Optometric, for example or you can visit this website: www.facebook.com/pages/create.php.

1. Once you are on the page, look in the upper right corner next to the page’s banner or “cover” photo and you will see a blue “create page” button. Click on that.

Create Page

2. On that page, you have several choices for the type of page you want. Since we are talking about individual practices in this case, click on “Local Business or Place.” If this is for a group or a school, you would pick “Company, organization, or institution.”

3. Next, you will be prompted to pick a category. In this case you’ll want to pick “Health/Medical/Pharmacy.” Fill in basic information like the name of your practice, address and more. Once you’ve finished, check the box that reads “I agree to the Facebook Terms of Service.” Then click the blue “get started” button.

4. Now it’s time to put together your profile. It will prompt you to upload an image or photo. I would suggest doing this right away as it will make your page look more complete right off the bat. The picture needs to be a minimum of 180 pixels wide. Click “continue.”

5. Then you will be prompted to import your contacts or friends. You can skip this step until your page looks more complete. Click the “skip” button at the bottom right of the page.

6. On the next page you can insert your web address as well as a description of your business in the “about” box.

If you already have a paragraph on your website, you can copy and paste it into this area. Click “continue.”

7. Now your page is created and Facebook has several steps for you to take to complete your page. At this point, you will want someone to post updates to it on a daily basis.

You now have the basic knowledge that will help you to get your Facebook page set up. Keep an eye out for future articles about types of posts, frequency of posting and how to leverage those posts to increase business for your practice. For any questions or suggestions about topics you want me to write about, please email me at rvancleave@coavision.org.

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california optometry

Copyright California Optometric Association © 2013 – All rights reserved.

No part of this article may be reproduced without the California Optometric Association’s express consent.

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The affordable care act and the harkin law

The American Optometric Association continues to ‘Lead the Way’ In 1986, the Medicare program formally recognized doctors of optometry as physicians. Achieving such an historic victory for patients and the profession was no small feat.

For years, volunteer optometrists, students, and staff of the American Optometric Association (AOA) worked tirelessly to convince lawmakers and other health policy leaders that Medicare beneficiaries desperately needed access to OD physician providers.

In the end, these pioneer advocates won out over anti-optometry forces that actively opposed this recognition and had sought to continue to define us as second-class, ancillary providers.

Today, millions of Medicare beneficiaries rely on their local optometrist for a range of health services, including diagnosis and care for disorders and diseases of the eye as well as for identification and management of systemic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension.

In fact, optometry now plays such an important role in the Medicare program that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently estimated that the agency expects to

pay optometrists roughly $1.1 billion in 2014 alone.

competition among the nation’s health care professionals.

Thanks to the AOA, countless doors have been opened to the profession since 1986. And for almost 30 years, that victory has been the defining moment for our profession…that was until AOA scored a set of major wins again in 2010.

Lawmakers ultimately agreed with the AOA and the effort culminated in the passage of the landmark provider non-discrimination provision – more commonly known as the Harkin Law. Featured as one of the key health insurance reform provisions included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Harkin Law bars health insurers – including self-insured plans – from discriminating against optometrists based on their license.

As lawmakers began to consider sweeping health legislation in 2009, the AOA and its sizeable network of volunteer optometrist activists again focused their sights on breaking down major barriers to the care that we provide. In particular, the AOA set out to end the health insurer practice of discriminating against ODs based on the type of license that they hold.

For decades, insurers denied network participation to optometrists and utilized health plan coverage and plan design to completely deny or severely limit patient access to optometrists, even though the ODs were acting within their state-mandated scope of practice.

These discriminatory practices have led to less patient access to needed care, less patient ability to seek care from the provider of their choice, and less

These new patient access safeguards now apply to nearly all plans in the United States – including, but not limited to, those sold through the new system of state-based exchanges created under the ACA as well as most plans sold outside of the exchanges.

Another groundbreaking development on the access to care front was the AOA’s successful fight for inclusion of an embedded pediatric vision care benefit within the ACA’s essential health benefits package. Under the law, all plans sold within the statebased exchanges and many sold outside of the exchanges must make

p13 So with a couple of sizeable wins under the belt, including the recognition in statute of optometry’s equal standing status with our MD counterparts, what’s next for the AOA? AOA President Mitch Munson, O.D. tells me that “the AOA will utilize all of our Federal, State, and Third Party advocacy resources to continue taking the fight to organized medicine and the health insurance industry to ensure a level playing field for our patients AOA President Mitch Munson, O.D. and profession.” available to enrollees the essential health benefits, including a pediatric vision care benefit.

Thanks again to the AOA, upwards of 10 million children from birth through age 18 will have new coverage for annual comprehensive eye exams and vision correction treatment, such as eyeglasses, provided by their local optometrist.

While the inclusion of that benefit is a huge victory on its own, the design of the benefit is what makes it truly historic.

Unlike most vision plans that are offered separately as an add-on, the pediatric vision care benefit is actually embedded within the medical plan.

The nature of the pediatric vision benefit sets it apart from the ACA’s pediatric dental benefit, which can be sold as a stand-alone benefit and, as such, is not a required purchase for plan participants or eligible for subsidization.

With today’s rapidly changing health care landscape and the uncertainty facing so many in the health care world, I’m glad to know that AOA is there for us and is accomplished at fighting and winning for our patients and the future of our profession. If you do not belong to the AOA – consider all that this organization continues to do for you and your patients.

Now is the time to consider the importance of being a part of the AOA. If not a member now is the time to contact your local Optometric Society and take the step forward

by joining. If a member, now is the time to consider your 2014 AOA PAC contribution.

These are the only ways you will continue to be able to practice our profession at the highest level. Further your continued support is required to assure Optometry will continue to be recognized by the Affordable Care Act as a Primary Heath and Vision Care Profession - deserving of equal status within the Home Provider Groups functioning within the Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in your area.

Your practice is the logical place for the new patients from the Affordable Care Act to seek Eye Health and Vision Care! Your actions now will make a difference in the months and years ahead. Vision West plans educational events to aid you in the ICD -10 Codes, understanding what you must do with and for the local Accountable Care Organization(s) in your area – please look for these events during 2014.

From the President’s Desk: Joseph C Mallinger OD MBA FAAO President / CEO Vision West

OD SYNDICATION

FREE WEBSITE EXCLUSIVE

to Vision West Members

We are excited to announce that Vision West membership now entitles you to a free website! Thanks to our vendor partner, EyeCarePro, we are able to offer our members this tremendous benefit. The cost of a Syndication Website, valued at $600/year, is paid for by your vendor partners.

For more information contact your Vision West Customer Service Representatives at 800.640.9485 today!

STRATEGIES FOR KEEPING PURCHASES AT INDEPENDENT PRACTICES PRESCRIBING FOR BLUE LIGHT OVEREXPOSURE

Tools for Independent ECPs Communicate Benefits Rather Than Scare Patients HOYA Vision Care recently commissioned a consumer research study to test market messaging options with eye care patients. “Strategies for Keeping Purchases at Independent Practices: Prescribing for Blue Light Overexposure” is the title of the study’s report summary with the research findings as well as easy to implement tactics.

The science is complex.

The patient benefits are very concrete.

Independent ECPs need tools to simply share the environmental concerns we have in our society today and then prescribe a solution to their patients.

People have very real, chronic symptoms brought on by over exposure to blue light. Respondents in the study shared with HOYA: 1. They had either never heard of blue light or only associated it with sleep patterns, rather than eye health

2. Acknowledged that blue light can cause macular degeneration, though such terms were viewed as scare tactics 3. They would listen to their eye doctor’s recommendations with regard to blue light protection 4. News articles and medical studies helped validate the information they were presented 5. They are seeking good value – which doesn’t always mean lowest price Dr. Thomas Gosling of Optical Matters in Littleton, CO shared how he proceeds with patients today. “The first step is asking each of your patients about their new media and digital device consumption habits. I have a very specific set of questions that I ask in a specific way in order to find out how each patient is affected by digital media.”

As our youth progress further with the use of tablets scholastically, SYNC lenses in combination with Recharge EX3 AR treatment can work together to relax this near demand. By using these lenses as a first response to patients

under forty years of age who works at near more than half their day, this fatigue reduction at near can actually bring added energy to their entire body.

Your real opportunity lies in the details on how to utilize the exam as an opportunity to present the issue of blue light with patients. Practical tips, data points and life style questions are just some of the tools provided in the report. In addition there is a section that outlines when offering HOYA lenses and treatments such as Sync and Recharge EX3, the first AR treatment to offer blue light filtering, would be most beneficial.

Copies of “Strategies for Keeping Purchases at Independent Practices: Prescribing for Blue Light Overexposure” are available through your HOYA Territory Sales Manager.

Optometry cares ® the aoa foundation

Optometry Cares — The AOA Foundation Helps ODs when Disaster Strikes ®

When optometrists lock their practice doors for the evening, it’s hard to imagine that the next day, it could be severely damaged or even destroyed. It’s impossible to predict when disaster will strike, or to prepare for the magnitude of a severe storm, such as Superstorm Sandy in 2012. When natural disasters keep optometrists from serving their patients, Optometry Cares® —The AOA Foundation is there to help.

Optometry Cares® —The AOA Foundation, the optometric profession’s charity of choice, manages Optometry’s Fund for Disaster Relief. The fund was created by the American Optometric Association in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which left widespread devastation across the vibrant New Orleans community and beyond.

When a storm impacts a practice, structural and equipment damage is only part of the challenge faced by optometrists. Optometrists serve their community, and when that community is knocked off its feet by a storm, everyone faces hardship. Many optometrists see their patients disperse to other areas of the country following a storm, further hampering practice recovery efforts. For some practitioners, it may be months before their home community stabilizes to allow recovery to begin.

Optometry’s Fund for Disaster Relief has changed the lives of many optometrists by providing immediate financial relief for critical and urgent needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter.

Drs. James and Kimberly Benigno, from Pass Christian, Miss., experienced the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in their community and received help from Optometry’s Fund for Disaster Relief. “Every dollar of aid in those first few months after the storm helped us to get back on our feet. The sincere concern and selfless giving of Optometry Cares and its generous donors will always be appreciated and will never be forgotten.”

Optometry’s Fund for Disaster Relief strives to help optometrists following disaster when times are tough, and get them back to doing what they do best — serving their patients.

For more about Optometry’s Fund for Disaster Relief, visit the Optometry Cares website at www.aoafoundation.org.

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On October 1, 2014, all your claims must be ICD-10 compliant or they will NOT be paid – all claims to Medicare, to Cigna, to Aetna, TO VSP, TO EYEMED – to every third party payor. Despite the efforts of the AMA and the AOA, there will be no more delays. ♦ Do not fall for the claims that becoming ICD-10 compliant can cost up to $80,000 for an average practice. ♦ Do not waste your time and money on programs and products that will show you how to file cardiology, dermatology and pediatric surgery claims. ♦ Do not waste your time on lectures telling you how bad this is but not offering you a workable solution.

Optometric Business Solutions, the optometric profession leader in compliance counseling and products, has a ICD-10 Training Package available providing all the materials you need to survive ICD-10 conversion. You will learn what  Doctor Training PowerPoint – Presentation that follows the DVD

lecture  ICD-10 Manual – explanation of ICD-10 and coding guidelines for eyecare  Case studies - examples of case histories and how to code them in ICD-10

 Staff Workbook with Timeline - basically a to-do list for the staff with timelines and check off

 Staff Training PowerPoint – training Presentation for staff  Ocular Specific ICD-10 Code Set – all eye specific codes in exportable file format

HIPAA Manual

Employee Manual

OSHA/CDC Manual

HIPAA Privacy and security regulations have changed. Increased enforcement, accompanied by stiff penalties, is becoming a goal of government agencies. Joe DeLoach, OD, FAAO and his team have developed the Newest HIPAA Manual to help you comply with the latest rules and procedures. It will also provide your office with THE TOOLS to produce your own privacy and security manuals! You and your staff will be armed will the best source to help prevent unknowingly breaking federal and state law.

This is another Optometric Business Solutions “plug and play” manual. It is a comprehensive employee manual that will keep you in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws. Included are all forms and documents you would ever need to properly manage routine and difficult employee situations. Like the HIPAA manual, it is easily customizable to your practice with minor additions, deletions, and insertions.

OSHA and the CDC both require that health care providers protect their employees and their patients. This manual provides you with all the information you need to be compliant with Federal rules and regulations. * CUSTOMIZABLE FOR YOUR OFFICE AND (Electronic Format Only, Printable) * EXTENSIVE TRAINING MODULES FOR DOCTOR AND STAFF

* CUSTOMIZABLE FOR YOUR OFFICE AND (Electronic Format Only, Printable) * EXTENSIVE TRAINING MODULES FOR DOCTOR AND STAFF

* CUSTOMIZABLE FOR YOUR OFFICE AND (Electronic Format Only, Printable)

Vision West members receive a

* EXTENSIVE TRAINING MODULES FOR DOCTOR AND STAFF

20% discount

on all manuals and materials. Please log in to your Vision West account to purchase or contact Customer Service at 800-640-9485

www.vweye.com

new vendors

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innereactive media

Innereactive Media provides custom marketing solutions, social media, websites and graphic design for the optical industry. Their dynamic & diverse team include: marketing consultants, graphic designers, event planners, video and web developers, all fully trained and focused specifically on optical. Effective marketing and social media begins with strategy. Let Innereactive Media help differentiate your practice from the competition and develop custom marketing and social media solutions designed to generate new patients while retaining existing. Additional services include: promotional or training video production, logo design and branding, websites and social media. Innereactive Media can help your practice stand out above the rest. Call them for a complimentary consultation and be sure to tell them you are a Vision West member!

Products: Marketing Services, Social Media, Optical Website & Online Marketing Solutions, Graphic Design, and Printing Solutions VW Discount: 20% off All Services For more information contact: Samantha Toth 888.963.8894 info@innereactive.com www.innereactive.com

optometric business solutions

assuring compliance with third party and government regulations.

Finally, a group of experts with “in the trenches” experience ready to help you tackle your insurance, billing, human resource management, health care compliance issues and electronic medical records management. Whether it’s audit services/protection, billing and coding training for doctors and staff, complete billing services, HIPAA compliance, the legalities of staff management or an overhaul of your third party accounts receivable, knowing how to obtain the government stimulus money you hear about or being prepared for the change to ICD10, Optometric Business Solutions (OBS) is all about maximizing your profit while

Insurance and medical record audits are a new primary focus of payors. Medical records audits, HIPPA “police”, penalties for violating State and Federal HR rules - all these are simply a reality of the modern optometric practice. Could your records and insurance billings withstand an audit?

Are you fully HIPAA compliant? Are your employment practices legal? These issues are REAL threats to your practice and your financial security. Unfortunately none of us learned these hard lessons in our formal training - and the constant barrage of seminars and “experts” only seem to confuse the issue.

Are you totally confused about meaningful use and how to obtain the stimulus money you hear about? Does your current EHR system frustrate you as much as help you?

Will you be ready for the staggering changes in health care that will come with ICD-10 conversion?

Optometric Business Solutions is the answer to protecting your hard earned dollars against financial disaster and help you deal with the “business” side of health care.

Visit the OBS website today for more information. When you are ready to order your Manuals, log in to your Vision West account, go to the Resource page and select Optometric Business Solutions to order and receive your Vision West discount!

Products: Compliance Manuals (ICD10, HIPPA, HR, & OSHA); Medical Billing & Coding, Training Audits, and much more VW Discount: 20% off Manuals - 10% off Billing Services For more information contact: Justin DeLoach 214.998.2723 justin@optometricbusinesssolutions.com www.optometricbusinesssolutions.com

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new vendors

truckee meadows optical

of products and services ensures that you are only one phone call away from getting the job done right the first time, every time.

TMO and specialty work go hand in hand, whether it is a difficult wrap frame or a dive mask, we will please the most discerning critics.

Truckee Meadows Optical, established in 1976 offers quick and quality service. When you choose Truckee Meadows Optical (TMO) as your laboratory you can rest assured that, each pair of eyeglasses we manufacture will exceed the expectations of you and your patient every time. With over 100 years’ experience in our management team alone, we have the expertise to handle even the toughest jobs quickly and accurately.

We offer virtually every premium optical lens and coating available, such as Essilor, Varilux, Crizal, Shamir, Hoya, Younger, AO-Sola, KB-CO, Vision Ease and many more.

Our state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and in-house coating facility enables us to handle all your lens manufacturing needs. With one of the most complete product lines available in any lab, our broad range

We are a VSP lab with online ordering available via Eyefinity. We also offer online ordering through Vision Web or our (ROE) Remote Order Entry program. Call us today, we are here to help!

Products: Full Service Laboratory VW Discount: 25% off For more information contact: Shannon Skaggs / Owner 800.245.6667 shannon@truckeemeadowsoptical.com www.truckeemeadowsoptical.com

zig eyewear usa

ZIG Eyewear has been creating & distributing designer eyewear for the Canadian & European markets for the past 10 years. In 2011 they opened a US location in Madison, Wisconsin.

Products: Manufacturers/Distributors of: ZIGGY & Jean Reno frames by Cendrine O.

Designer Cendrine Obadia, a French-Canadian artist with over 20 years’ experience in the eyewear industry, is the creator of both ZIGGY & Jean Reno lines.

VW Discount: 10% Discount - Special Billing Terms for Vision West Members!

ZIGGY is eyewear at a new level of fashion & style utilizing bright colors and intricate details that make this collection truly unlike any other. Designs range from whimsical and ornate to dimensional & industrial.

Jean Reno was created as an exclusive eyewear line for internationally renowned French actor, Jean Reno. This collection captures the style and sophistication of fame featuring vintage, artistic, structural, and modern designs.

Find that “something different” that your patients are asking for and receive special extended billing terms when ordered through your Vision West account. Call ZIG Eyewear today!

For more information contact: Heidi Schwitzer 877.907.9076 Heidi.schwitzer@gmail.com www.zig-eyewearusa.com

VENDOR AND industry UPDATES

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modo MODO’s Paper Thin Titanium collection is so light that it’s practically unnoticeable to the wearer. The Paper Thin frames combine incredible lightness, high flexibility, and eye-catching colors with super-thin grilamid polymer rings. At 6.8 grams and measuring only 0.6 mm in thickness, the beta-titanium frames offer the wearer the highest level of comfort.

By pairing ultra-elastic polyamide TR 90 inserts with titanium, MODO is able to offer vibrant colors that are the ultimate in thinness and proportions. Customers can choose from six styles with six eyecatching colors, including fuchsia and turquoise.

MODO 4046 is one of the bestselling in the Paper Thin titanium collection. It features a matte brown overlay with a dark gun metal temple and bridge. The model is accented with brown acetate temple tips for an overall trendy, but classic, matte finish. For a bolder look, model 4047 – also a popular style -- has bright green acetate over a light gun metal rim, paired with metal temples and an acetate temple tip.

The collection has the perfect combination of minimalism and flexibility. MODO’s knowledge of materials and their combinations make their Paper Thin collection one of the most innovative on the market.

l’amy america L’Amy America’s Columbia Eyewear launches new performance ophthlamics: Lassen and Weston Peaks L’Amy America, a division of global eyewear group TWC-L’Amy, announces the worldwide launch of two new models in its Columbia Sportswear ophthalmic collection, expanding upon its highly successful Columbia Performance Eyewear series.

The new combination models feature stainless steel fronts with H90™ injected plastic frame injection-molded temple stems.

“We’ve combined the ultimate in frame comfort and frame performance with durability. Stainless steel strength and H90™ featherweight comfort together create a frame perfectly suited for outdoor adventure and the urban commute alike,” said Worldwide Business Unit Manager Connie Reiss. “Our legendary H90™ frame material provides featherweight comfort, is flexible and durable, reacting very well to extreme temperatures. Pairing H90™ with stainless fronts makes one very comfortable and tenacious frame! Perfect for the less-than-tame lifestyle” said Reiss.

True outdoor features on this duo are inspired by true outdoor locations. Reiss adds that “our product names are real places visited by hardcore Columbia Sportswear consumers worldwide.

The Weston Peak, in central Colorado is located in the Pike National Forest. And Lassen Peak, in California, the second tallest mountain in northern California and is considered an active volcano as it erupted 100 years ago; both, areas well-known by serious trekkers and alpinists alike.”

The new models, Weston Peak and Lassen Peak, both full rim rectangle designs, are first constructed of Columbia’s exclusive H90™ material, and are then bi-injected with Gripol™ rubber inserts for super soft touch and extra grippage against the skin.

Lassen features a unique flatpaddle temple tip with wire core for easy adjustability. Bi-color temples paired with earth-colored frame fronts provide safe color choice for the more conservative taste, but still enough sport accent for the more trend conscious.

Both models are available in 3 colors each.

Staff Recognition through Enrollment Enrolling paraoptometrics/optometric staff as AOA members is one way to recognize the value they bring to a practice. All paraoptometrics (non-ODs) working for AOA member ODs may become AOA associate members.

Enrollment ensures access to all current Paraoptometric Resource Center member benefits and services at no membership cost to the paraoptometric and no added membership cost to the AOA-member optometrist, it also opens the door to expanded education and training for approximately 75,000 optometric staff members across the country.

Current Paraoptometric Resource Center benefits include access to current free member-only benefits such as: • Online continuing education (CE) articles worth six hours of CE credits, • The Paraoptometric Skill Builder® Beginner Level 1 program • The billing and coding webinar series • Access to member-only Web pages • Continued access to current AOA publications • Discounted fees for paraoptometric education materials • Reduced registration fees for Optometry’s Meeting® Commission on Paraoptometric Certification (CPC) status will not be affected by the bylaws change; the CPC will continue to operate without any changes.

How to prepare for enrollment Before enrolling staff, optometrists may take the following steps to prepare: 1.Determine your practice’s main contact. Will the doctor be enrolling staff and providing updates, or will another individual, such as the practice’s office manager, be designated to act on the member doctor’s behalf?

2.Determine key locations. Staff may only be linked to a single practice location. If a practice has more than one AOA member Optometrist, determine which staff will be linked to which AOA member ID. You will need to have the AOA member Optometrist’s ID number(s) and password to enroll staff.

3.Gather the following information for each paroptometric/optometric staff member to complete the enrollment form: • Name (Legal name on Driver’s License) • Date of birth • Unique e-mail address for each individual (no practice group e-mail accounts) How to enroll staff 1.Log-in to www.aoa.org 2.Under the Optometrist tab, click on My Profile/ My AOA 3.Click on the “Manage Staff” tab 4.Enter information for each staff person (non-OD)

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Opticenter is a quarterly publication written, produced and distributed by Vision West, Inc. The first five members THE VOICE OF VISION WES T

to submit an idea to feedback@vweye.com with their suggestions of how to make OptiCenter better will receive a $5.00 Starbucks card.

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15970 Bernardo Center Dr. San Diego, CA 92127-1828 www.vweye.com Change the World‌ please recycle this newsletter

Essilor Labs of America (ELOA) and Vision West have teamed up to offer our members a way to earn rewards back when they increase their ELOA billing.

it’s our way of saying

thank you!

Gift cards to be supplied by Vision West.

Starting January 1, 2014 and running through December 31, 2014, Vision West Members will receive a $ 25 American Express gift card for every $1000 of incremental new ELOA business billed through your Vision West account.

For more information please visit our website at www.vweye.com or call one of our Customer Service Specialists at 800.640.9485. * Program will be tracked and awarded on a quarterly basis. Incremental new business will be determined by comparing the current quarters ELOA billing against the same quarter ELOA billing of the previous year. Offer only applies to actual ELOA labs and does not apply to Essilor partner labs.